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Post by nucleusofswarm on Feb 22, 2020 1:23:34 GMT
Looking back over the history of BF, I find this an interesting point in their evolution - this big 'reach for the stars' and go for these bigger, non-British IPs. Obviously, we know what happened when they got made, but does anyone remember, if it was ever said, why BF went after these in the first place? Was it just a fanboy thing, or did they plan some kind of bigger expansion strategy in mind?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2020 1:33:59 GMT
I mean, the cheap answer is....they thought there was money in it.
Less cheaply....it's easily missed in 2020 but those shows, even in the UK, did have pretty big cult followings especially Stargate which was often getting better numbers for Sky than new Trek in the late 90s. Having a punt and seeing if those audiences were open to audio drama with original stars was worth a punt. Jason has said that far from being open, certain elements of the Stargate fandom actively came out against BF and kinda killed it dead.
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Post by Digi on Feb 22, 2020 2:40:11 GMT
I wasn't around in those days, but wasn't Paul Spragg a Stargate fan?
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Feb 22, 2020 2:53:20 GMT
I wasn't around in those days, but wasn't Paul Spragg a Stargate fan? I think so and I also seem to remember he was the line producer on the final few releases. And as David points out, I'm sure the primary driver behind BF picking up those licenses was profit. |
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Post by Whovitt on Feb 22, 2020 2:53:37 GMT
I wasn't around in those days, but wasn't Paul Spragg a Stargate fan? I seem to recall hearing that. I *think* it was his pushing that got them to acquire the license in the first place. I also heard what davy said, that there was a lot of backlash from fans (claiming that it was the audios that were killing the main shows, see Atlantis' cancellation) and that's why they stopped doing them. If we think about it though, I believe that was the only time Big Finish were producing dramas for an IP that was stilling being made onscreen simultaneously (excluding the New Who license, and even then they can only use eras that aren't the one being produced for TV). I bet that if they got the license for Stargate now there would be many more people falling over themselves trying to get their hands on them since the show has been off-air for nearly nine years. |
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mbt66
Chancellery Guard
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Post by mbt66 on Feb 22, 2020 10:45:49 GMT
I wasn't around in those days, but wasn't Paul Spragg a Stargate fan? I seem to recall hearing that. I *think* it was his pushing that got them to acquire the license in the first place. I also heard what davy said, that there was a lot of backlash from fans (claiming that it was the audios that were killing the main shows, see Atlantis' cancellation) and that's why they stopped doing them. If we think about it though, I believe that was the only time Big Finish were producing dramas for an IP that was stilling being made onscreen simultaneously (excluding the New Who license, and even then they can only use eras that aren't the one being produced for TV). I bet that if they got the license for Stargate now there would be many more people falling over themselves trying to get their hands on them since the show has been off-air for nearly nine years. Yes I remember reading some of the negativity and you could be right that the timing was wrong. If these audios were released now they might have found a more positive reception from the fans. I also recall there was talk that the acceptance of audio drama was different between a UK audiences that had been exposed to more audio drama thanks to the BBC than those in the USA. Plus, of course, a lot of people cannot get over the price with a three disk audio set costing more than a boxset of a complete television series with pictures as well as audio! |
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Post by Whovitt on Feb 22, 2020 10:56:31 GMT
I seem to recall hearing that. I *think* it was his pushing that got them to acquire the license in the first place. I also heard what davy said, that there was a lot of backlash from fans (claiming that it was the audios that were killing the main shows, see Atlantis' cancellation) and that's why they stopped doing them. If we think about it though, I believe that was the only time Big Finish were producing dramas for an IP that was stilling being made onscreen simultaneously (excluding the New Who license, and even then they can only use eras that aren't the one being produced for TV). I bet that if they got the license for Stargate now there would be many more people falling over themselves trying to get their hands on them since the show has been off-air for nearly nine years. Yes I remember reading some of the negativity and you could be right that the timing was wrong. If these audios were released now they might have found a more positive reception from the fans. I also recall there was talk that the acceptance of audio drama was different between a UK audiences that had been exposed to more audio drama thanks to the BBC than those in the USA. Plus, of course, a lot of people cannot get over the price with a three disk audio set costing more than a boxset of a complete television series with pictures as well as audio! You know, I've never actually thought about the cost of Big Finish products. If I'm honest, I look at what I want, decide when I'm going to pre-order it, and that's that. When you say that though I realise that Big Finish products are actually extremely expensive for the content you actually get. I guess it's a good thing that I don't buy loads of other things... (I genuinely can't believe I've been buying BF CDs for nearly five years and not actually compared the prices to a TV box set before. If I had I probably would stopped buying BF altogether ages ago, so I guess I'm glad I'd never thought about if before now...) |
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mbt66
Chancellery Guard
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Post by mbt66 on Feb 22, 2020 11:27:10 GMT
Yes I remember reading some of the negativity and you could be right that the timing was wrong. If these audios were released now they might have found a more positive reception from the fans. I also recall there was talk that the acceptance of audio drama was different between a UK audiences that had been exposed to more audio drama thanks to the BBC than those in the USA. Plus, of course, a lot of people cannot get over the price with a three disk audio set costing more than a boxset of a complete television series with pictures as well as audio! You know, I've never actually thought about the cost of Big Finish products. If I'm honest, I look at what I want, decide when I'm going to pre-order it, and that's that. When you say that though I realise that Big Finish products are actually extremely expensive for the content you actually get. I guess it's a good thing that I don't buy loads of other things... (I genuinely can't believe I've been buying BF CDs for nearly five years and not actually compared the prices to a TV box set before. If I had I probably would stopped buying BF altogether ages ago, so I guess I'm glad I'd never thought about if before now...) Sorry to put that thought in your head. But I have bought tv series boxsets in the past that I have never gotten around to watching, where as I have never not listened to an audio boxset. And as for StarGate I remember the film, but never got into the TV series and have never bought a DVD boxset, but I have both the full cast audio sets and have listened to them multiple times. |
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Post by mark687 on Feb 22, 2020 12:42:17 GMT
Not sure about StarGate but Highlander definitely was nearly all Paul Spragg. He pitched the idea, tracked down rights holders and Actor's Agents.
Personally if Highlander came back I'd buy its my 3rd favourite series after DW and DS9.
Regards
mark687
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Post by bohnny on Feb 22, 2020 13:11:21 GMT
Not sure about StarGate but Highlander definitely was nearly all Paul Spragg. He pitched the idea, tracked down rights holders and Actor's Agents. Personally if Highlander came back I'd buy its my 3rd favourite series after DW and DS9. Regards mark687 And BF Highlander was great too |
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Feb 22, 2020 17:36:03 GMT
You know, I've never actually thought about the cost of Big Finish products. If I'm honest, I look at what I want, decide when I'm going to pre-order it, and that's that. When you say that though I realise that Big Finish products are actually extremely expensive for the content you actually get. I guess it's a good thing that I don't buy loads of other things... (I genuinely can't believe I've been buying BF CDs for nearly five years and not actually compared the prices to a TV box set before. If I had I probably would stopped buying BF altogether ages ago, so I guess I'm glad I'd never thought about if before now...) Sorry to put that thought in your head. But I have bought tv series boxsets in the past that I have never gotten around to watching, where as I have never not listened to an audio boxset. I don't see anything wrong with it. It's certainly a question worth engaging with, though obviously it's not a 1-to-1 with BF to a studio or TV network.
On the note of releases, wasn't there a customer survey a few years back about BF and streaming?
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Feb 22, 2020 20:08:33 GMT
On the note of releases, wasn't there a customer survey a few years back about BF and streaming?
And hasn't Nick said over & over again that streaming just doesn't make any financial sense to them? |
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Feb 22, 2020 23:42:28 GMT
On the note of releases, wasn't there a customer survey a few years back about BF and streaming?
And hasn't Nick said over & over again that streaming just doesn't make any financial sense to them? I wasn't aware he had, but I can see why he'd say that - just the one, flat, universal sub fee couldn't support them and all the ranges. And not an audience this small.
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